WATERVILLE — A city man was issued a summons in connection with alleged drug use and taken to a hospital Tuesday night following a standoff with police after neighbors reported hearing what sounded like gunshots from inside his apartment.
Officials later said there was no gunfire and the sounds had come from the man’s smashing items with a hammer.
Jimmy Frappier, 49, was charged with Class D refusing to submit to arrest or detention and unlawful furnishing of scheduled drug, a Class C offense, according to acting police Chief Bill Bonney.
Bonney said the unlawful furnishing of scheduled drug charge was based on the amount of methamphetamine — 11.8 grams — that Frappier reportedly had on him. A lethal dose of methamphetamine is about 200 milligrams, which is one-fifth of a gram, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Bonney said neighbors on Union Street reported to police at about 7:10 p.m. Tuesday that they had heard gunfire and thought Frappier had shot out a window of his apartment on Union Street.
Police officers responded to the building, which is just behind the Waterville Fire Station. Officers set up a perimeter, which included closing the street to traffic for more than an hour, and stationing others on the fire station roof, Bonney said Wednesday morning.
The fire station is at 7 College Ave., at the corner of Union Street. The apartment building in which Frappier lives is on Union Street and separated from the fire station by a parking area and driveway for the fire station that connects Union Street with College Avenue.
After a short time and with Frappier refusing contact with officers, he tried to flee, but was cornered by police, according to Bonney. Police took Frappier into custody and then found he had methamphetamine, a highly addictive psychostimulant drug.
“We believe that he was ingesting methamphetamine, which was contributing to his behavior, so he was taken to the hospital and we treated it as a mental health crisis,” Bonney said.
Waterville’s new community outreach coordinator, as well as a crisis negotiator, were at the scene Tuesday night, and the outreach coordinator went to the hospital with Frappier, Bonney said.
After that, police got a search warrant for Frappier’s apartment and found no firearm, according to Bonney.
“It appeared the loud noise was really from a hammer, and he was smashing things inside his apartment with a hammer,” Bonney said.
Frappier is scheduled to appear July 3 at Unified Criminal Court in Augusta.
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